29/10/2011
NEWS STORY
Bob Constanduros writes:
Well, today we got down to the serious stuff, and it was nice to see that the Indian crowd - not as big as I thought or had hoped - got loads of proper Formula One action. As usual on a Saturday, there was lots of track action in the morning, with the usual qualifying dress rehearsal at the end of the session. The nice thing here is that we are just two commentators - there's no local guy - and so it's just me and my son - whose 26th birthday it is today. We work pretty well together, don't talk over one another, and give each other space and time which is perfect.
So I think we brought out the excitement of qualifying pretty well. It's always important to explain to newcomers just how qualifying works. We're very used to it, and I think we can get very complicated about F1 and it just goes miles over people's heads, particularly if they're seeing a race for the first time. So it's important to stay grounded and remember who we're talking to.
But it is a complicated weekend for the locals. We've got quite a few penalties kicking around; Petrov's from Korea, those for Perez and Hamilton yesterday for ignoring yellow flags (allegedly) and then it seems both HRTs have got penalties too. Narain Karthikeyan was penalised for impeding Schumacher in qualifying which means a drop of five grid positions and they've had a new gearbox too.
We're getting towards the sharp end of the season, and I think that's making a difference, with engines coming to the end of their lives and gearboxes too. And of course, this circuit isn't helping. There are very special conditions here. We have this extraordinary haze all the time, which means the quality of air is particularly poor. You can taste the pollution in the mornings. There also seems to be a lot of dust in the air too, which means that the track is permanently dusty. I just wonder how much of an effect that's going to have in the race. Once we start lappery, cars are going to have to go off line and pick up not just dust but also rubber. Sure that happens everywhere, but with the dust as well it could make a major difference. And as for the kerb that Massa wrecked his suspension on, well, that could also claim a car or two more.
My own schedule seems to have settled down. It took a while to find our driver last night, but he was quite conservative, then and this morning. We managed to find the errant seat belt which made us both feel a bit safer. And we went to a local restaurant which turned out to be very good and really quite cheap, so that was a result.
The driver was on time this morning - maybe he didn't understand that we actually wanted him half an hour later - and again, we had an almost leisurely ride in. However, he has a car pass which was useful up until race weekend, but we now have a bit of a walk in because we get dropped off some way from where we should be. We showed our passes, but about 10kms from the circuit we were told that our passes were good, but not that on the car. However, our man found us a way in.
It's quite a sociable race, surprisingly. An old French colleague is making a very rare visit to a race. Sean Walkinshaw is racing here accompanied by his brother and mother Martine, so it's nice to see her. Former Formula Festival winner Chrissy Palmer from nearby Chichester is also racing here in a support race, and Chris Snowdon from Emsworth is running some of the cars. It's also been good to see V8 Supercar executive Martin Whittaker here - he claims that he was actually slightly unwell before he got here, which he reckons is a record.
It's been great to see Rowan Atkinson here - I wonder what Mr Bean would make of Indian driving - and some of our number were due to see Metallica in concert last night. This is part of F1 Rocks, whose PR is run by former Jordan press officer Christine Gorham. The 'Gorham' bit is her married name; she told me here that she's recently celebrated 30 years of marriage to Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott - surely that's a rock-'n'-roll record!
Anyway, for 'technical reasons' Metallica couldn't play and the concert was postponed to tonight. Instead, angry Indian fans wrecked the stage and all their equipment, which means that they definitely couldn't play tonight either!
Well, we obviously have to celebrate the birthday tonight, so that's going to be fun and we're going back to last night's restaurant again. Ben then flies off tomorrow night to Bermuda (don't ask) so I have to make my own way back to the hotel and then on to the airport on Monday. Apparently I have to be there several hours early. Why? Because, no doubt, of the queues. So someone wants to waste my time. How I hate that...
Check out our India qualifying gallery, here.